Epistemology

Source: The New York Times

It’s halftime and the results are in:

Foucault	1
Addams	2

 

I admit that I had very few expectations when I took this quiz. My previous research focused on how stylistic developments in H.D. and Ezra Pound’s Imagist poetry reflected the rhetoric of early 20^th century anxieties. Studying mainly modernist poetry, I wasn’t exposed to such strong epistemological identification. I just couldn’t believe I had to talk about Foucault yet again (I’m not anti-Foucault, I just have some Foucault exhaustion). 

The single dose of Foucault does make sense. Coming from an Arts and Science background, I have developed a very critical view of the “narrative of objective science.” The erasure of subjectivity in science has very serious social implications but that’s another conversation for another time. Although I do not agree with Foucault on a lot of points, I do see some of that relativism in my own way of thinking.  

What really interested me was the balance of Foucault and Addams. I feel that I would have been surprised by Addams before the MI program. Whereas before I looked at the socio-political contexts of literature, working in libraries has focused my research interests on the practical and ethical issues of librarianship. 

I think that the pragmatism of Addams could lend a lot to my research interest, scholarly communication in participatory media. Although this research would mainly be in the realm of critical theory, I do want to consider how it could lay the ground work for thinking about the role of libraries as I mentioned. 

For your enjoyment:

“Epistemology, You Crazy Bastard” by Robert Mankoff (cartoon editor of The New York Times)